1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to lifeboats. More particular, the present invention relates to systems and processes for the deployment and/or recapture of a lifeboat. Additionally, the present invention relates to sensors as utilized within the various components of a lifeboat so as to provide guided instruction to the helmsman as to the proper procedures for deploying the lifeboat.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98.
Lifeboats are in common use on offshore vessels, including ships and oil and gas platforms. Typically, a lifeboat will be supported from a twin fall davit on the marine vessel or oil drilling platform. In emergency conditions, it is known for personnel on the offshore vessel to climb into the lifeboat. The helmsman of the lifeboat will then actuate the necessary controls so as to cause the davits to lower the lifeboat to the surface of the water.
During maintenance and cleaning, it is quite common for personnel to utilize maintenance pendant pins so as to engage the lifeboat to structures on the offshore vessel. As such, during these procedures, the support of the lifeboat is provided both by the maintenance pendant pins and by the fall prevention devices. Unfortunately, on occasion, personnel fail to remove the maintenance pendant pin or pins. As such, during emergency conditions, there are situations whereby release of the lifeboat is not possible because of the engagement of the maintenance pendant pin. As such, although the fall prevention devices or connectors have been released from their shackles, the boat may still be supported by the maintenance pendant pin. Under such circumstances, complicated procedures will be necessary so as to raise the lifeboat so that the maintenance pendant pin can be released so as to allow for the lowering of the lifeboat. In other circumstances, a single maintenance pendant pin will remain in place. As such, the lifeboat will move toward a generally vertical orientation. Once again, complicated procedures are necessary so as to correct for these problems.
In emergency situations, a trained person will be employed as a helmsman for the lifeboat. The helmsman goes through a variety of training procedures so that the helmsman is effectively able to carry out the necessary procedures on the lifeboat during the emergency situation. Unfortunately, even with a great deal of training, the helmsman often forgets the proper procedures to be carried out. As such, the lifeboat may be improperly deployed or placed into a further dangerous situation.
In other circumstances, the emergency condition may be such that the trained helmsman is not available for the operation of the lifeboat. In emergency circumstances, personnel may be injured, including the helmsman. As such, it would be desirable for relatively untrained person to take command of the lifeboat and carry out procedures necessary to deploy the lifeboat. Untrained personnel will find great difficulty in understanding the proper procedures to be carried out under such emergency conditions. Once again, injuries could occur as a result of the improper deployment of a lifeboat from the marine vessel.
During the deployment of a lifeboat, it is very important that the lifeboat be positioned in the water before the connectors of the lifeboat are released from the shackles of the davit lines. If the release should occur too early, the lifeboat could fall to the water. This could cause injury to persons within the lifeboat. In other circumstances, if a single connector is released from the shackle of the davit line, then the lifeboat may have a tendency to go into a vertical orientation and be improperly deployed. As such, a need has developed so as to assure that the connectors of the lifeboat are not released prematurely from the shackles of the davit lines.
During the recapture of the lifeboat following drills or emergency deployments, it is important that the hook of the connector be in a position whereby the hook can receive the shackle of the davit line therein. Typically, personnel on the lifeboat will forget that it is necessary to reset the hook of the connector such that the shackle can be received therein. As such, remedial procedures would be necessary so as to carry out this type of engagement. It is important for the helmsman of a lifeboat to realize the various procedures that must be carried out so as to recapture the lifeboat and restore the lifeboat to its proper position on the marine vessel.
A twin fall davit lifeboat or a totally enclosed motor-propelled survival craft is used to evacuate personnel from offshore drilling platforms or marine vessels. This type of lifeboat system has release mechanisms that disengage the lifeboat from the davit lines when the craft reaches or is just above the water. Regulations state that the release mechanisms on a lifeboat must be operable with the full weight of the lifeboat on the davit lines. Although this regulation has been drafted to ensure the lifeboat will be positively released when the release mechanisms are operated, there has been and continues to be, isolated cases of improper settings of the release mechanisms, including cases of premature releases at some undesirable distance above the water.
Generally, the lifeboat release mechanisms of the prior art have interlocking parts including hooks to which are attached the ropes supporting the lifeboat. These hooks are allowed to pivot in such a way so as to release the ropes from the lifeboat upon a rotation thereof from their holding positions. Each hook is held in its holding position by a catch member. In some of these prior art devices, being guide engagement of the hook with the catch member is very small such that when the catch member is moved even by a slight amount, the hook is released and pivots on itself, thereby releasing the lifeboat line unexpectedly. As such, it is important to be able to sense when the hook and/or the catch is in its proper position so as to avoid the accidental release of the lifeboat line.
In the past, the helmsman is often provided with an instruction manual within the lifeboat. Under emergency circumstances, the helmsman may not follow the procedures in the manual. In other circumstances, procedures may be skipped in view of the urgency of the situation. Whenever procedures are skipped, there is a possibility of accidents and improper deployment. As such, it is important to be able to assure that the helmsman is following the proper procedures during the deployment of the lifeboat.
In the past, various patents have issued relating to the deployment of lifeboats. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,281,867, issued on Aug. 4, 1981 to N. Carriagin, describes a disengaging apparatus for a lifeboat. The disengaging apparatus includes a hook pivotally located below its hooking point between a pair of plates. The disengaging apparatus has a counterbalanced cam locking structure wherein the force applied to the hook by the weight of the lifeboat causes positive engagement with a cam surface. When the force applied to the surface falls below a predetermined level, a counterweight rotates the cam structure away from the hook and allows for the rotation of the hook to open. The counterweight is further used to positively pull the hook to the open position after a given amount of travel.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,841,901, issued on Jun. 27, 1989 to McGluw et al., discloses a support structure for lifeboats which is weight-operated. The support structure includes a plurality of support members, each or some of which may be telescopic which are pivotally interconnected adjacent their associated interconnected ends. Each successive upper one of a pair of such members is pivotal relative to the next adjacent lowermost member about a substantially horizontal axis. The pivoting is controlled by a control mechanism which is operated from a fluid pressure source produced by the weight of the elements upon each other. The construction is such that a lifeboat may be supported in either a lower or an elevated position on a large ship and the individual support members may be articulated relative to each other so as to pivot the boat outwardly away from the vessel or ship in any manner which is desired.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,078,073, issued on Jan. 7, 1992 to Bettz et al., teaches a method and apparatus for a lifeboat safety strop. This apparatus provides additional safety during the launching of survival craft from a ship or a platform to which it is attached. The safety strop includes a connecting line which is attached at its upper end to a means for lowering a launch pendant and a lifeboat. The lifeboat is equipped with an on-load release means for launching it. The lower end of the connecting line is attached to a release means, such as a shackle or a pelican hook. The connecting line has a longer length than the launch dependent, so that no load is carried by the connecting line unless the lifeboat is prematurely released from the launch dependent.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,205,600, issued on Apr. 27, 1993 to R. Moore, provides an automatic quick-release coupling/decoupling mechanism for deploying and retrieving a lifeboat. The mechanism includes a frame, a hook member pivotally attached to the frame, a block member pivotally attached to the frame, a lock pin slidably disposed in a slot in the frame, and a trip member pivotally attached to the frame. The hook member has first and second hook portions adapted to engage the lock pin and a lift ring attached to the tethered object, respectively, and an attached counterweight disposed eccentric to the pivot point.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,619,951, issued on Apr. 15, 1997 the D. A. Constantinis, shows a system for launching a lifeboat from davits on an offshore drilling platform. The system includes a submerged buoyancy device tethered to the bow of the lifeboat by a cable which passes between the buoyancy device and the lifeboat. The cable is retained by a release mechanism attached to the platform just above the waterline and extends upward from a guide fairlead attach to the sea bed, between the latter and the lifeboat.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,904,864, issued on Jun. 14, 2005 to Re et al., provides a controlled lifeboat deployer so as to control the descent of a seafaring vessel into the water. The control system controls the descent speed of the vessel to minimize the possibility of setback after splashdown. As such, it increases the probability of a safe and orderly launch.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,920,839, issued on Jul. 26, 2005 to D. M. Pelley, discloses a lifeboat release mechanism that has a hook movably mounted thereto. The hook has a concave surface on its lower end. A latch block having a convex surface thereon is also movably mounted therein. In a holding mode, the convex surface of the latch block is laid against the concave surface of the hook. In a release mode, the convex surface is below the concave surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,152,065, issued on Nov. 28, 2000 to J. Gronstand, teaches an apparatus for launching and recovery of lifeboats. The boat is normally stored on a dock. The dock is provided with buoyant elements fixed to a frame. The boat is supported in a cradle within the frame. On launching and recovery of the boat, the dock is lowered to a floating position on the surface of the water. In order to fix the boat to the dock, a locking device is provided. The dock is given rolling and pitching periods which coincide as closely as possible with those of the boat. The dock and the boat will thereby behave in approximately the same manner in the water so as to make it relatively simple to run the boat into the dock even in a very heavy sea.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,156,886, issued on Apr. 17, 2012 to K. Velcic, shows a device or apparatus for launching a lifeboat from a structure that is at least partially surrounded by water. The device includes at least one launch ramp and a means to effect translational displacement of the launch ramp when the device has been mounted on the structure in order to enable the position of the launch ramp to be changed before launching the boat into the water.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a system and process for directing the actions of a helmsman of a lifeboat which provides ordered instructions to the helmsman.
It is another object of the system and process of the present invention to provide sensors which detect the completion and/or status of the various steps associated with the launch of a lifeboat.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a system and method which facilitates the ability to carry out a safe launch under emergency conditions.
It is still further object of the present invention to provide a system and method whereby relatively untrained personnel can carry out the necessary steps for the safe launch of a lifeboat.
Is still further object of the present invention to provide a system and method which is easy-to-use, relatively inexpensive, and easy to implement.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a reading of the attached specification and appinded claims.